Networked Journalism Section Two

How are activists taking up the role of journalists?

Payson Everett-Brown

3/31/16

1) Key Points:

Blurred lines: Citizens use of Social Media

• Are they becoming Journalists or Activists or participants?

• Who can participate? Anyone with a smartphone or social media sites can voice their opinion.
• Hashtags gathering similar content to one place where people can join in and discuss.
• Everyone can have a voice and there are no gatekeepers.
• Citizen journalism and first hand accounts (live reporting) vs original content curators (professional journalists).

David Carr: Titles

• Who is a journalist, activist and can they be one in the same? Looks into Glenn Greenwald’s reporting for The Guardian on the secrets revealed by Edward Snowden.
• Greenwald is an activist who is vocal about the government and national security and who argues for activist journalism.
• “Activist” journalism is a code word for a journalist who is vocal about a particular issue or agenda to follow and to inform the public.
• “Journalists come in a variety of shapes and sizes and come with a variety of commitments,” said Jay Rosen, a journalism professor at New York University.
• “It is a matter of being honest or dishonest. All activists are not journalists, but all real journalists are activists. Journalism has a value, a purpose — to serve as a check on power,” said Greenwald.
• Winning an argument vs neutral reporting.

Dan Gillmor: Why do we as citizens need to report on what we see?

• Government, surveillance and reporting.
• Giant Internet companies and media conglomerates, with Facebook leading the way, are on the verge of becoming the newsstands to the world — and using their secret algorithms to gain unprecedented power over what people read, listen to, and watch online (Gillmore).

2) References:

Gillmor, Dan. "Journalists Turn Activist." Nieman Lab. Web. 29 Mar. 2016.

Carr, David. "Journalism, Even When It’s Tilted." The New York Times. The New York Times, 13 June 2013. Web. 29 Mar. 2016.

3) Visual:

4) Discussion Questions:

• 1. Activists can gather through social media to engage in a conversation whereas they might not be able to without the Internet-what role do you think the hashtag plays in activism?
• 2. Because of algorithms, much like Facebook where people read and see what they want to see (based on past viewing history). People are involved in their bubble of what they see-how do we get them out of this bubble and look at other topics.
• 3. Dan Gillmor says that if we don’t get journalists to take a stance on an issue and voice an opinion, journalists are just entertainers. Where does a  journalist's personal social media accounts play into role when they have a “public” role.